


To be a good friend

by PeterHaleforAlpha



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Gen, childhood fic, friendship fic, just some fluff, young!Duke, young!Nathan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 13:57:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3612525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeterHaleforAlpha/pseuds/PeterHaleforAlpha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duke and Nathan went into a cave to find a treasure and get stuck there because some rock fell. It's dark and they can't see anything. This problem is way bigger for Nathan than for Duke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To be a good friend

**Author's Note:**

> Just some fluff with little Duke and Nathan. Not a lot of plot but I just wanted something happy with them :)

“I should have never listened to you.”   
Duke sighed. That was at least the third time he heard this today. “Don’t be such a coward. I said before that there is another exit, Nate, and I know where.”  
The entrance of the cave was blocked because rocks fells down and now they couldn’t get out of there. But Duke knew this cave, knew its tunnels and knew there was another exit but Nathan still complained and even more as further they got in the cave. And now their flashlights went out too and it was totally dark. But this was no problem at all. Duke could find his way blind through these tunnels if he had to.

“It’s dark,” Nathan pointed out again.  
Duke just laughed. Nathan always played so tough and now he was afraid of the dark? That was just hilarious. Duke could use that for the future when Nathan should be annoying, so he could use this every time they would talk with each other. Perfect!

“The police son Nathan Wuornos is afraid of the dark?” Duke really couldn’t hide his amusement about that fact.  
“I’m not!” Nathan protested but the sound of his voice was telling something different. “It’s just … I can’t see anything. It’s pitch black.”  
“So? Just lay your hand on the wall and follow it. You just have to feel – oh!”  
Nathan puffed. “Yes.” It sounded bitter.

Duke never thought much about Nathan’s affliction. Certainly it was fun messing with it sometimes but he never thought about the troubles that come with it. He couldn’t feel anything, no touch of people, not the wall next to him and not his own hand and feet. He probably needed to see if he wanted to walk somewhere.   
“You can’t do this.” Duke’s voice was serious.  
“No!”

Duke suddenly felt so sorry for this kid but he knew that Nathan wouldn’t want sympathy. It wasn’t his way to handle things.  
“Do you trust me?”  
“No!”

Fair enough. Duke let him here promising a big treasure and he always messed with him in school. “Your bad. I’m your only chance to get out of here. So, do you trust me?”  
“Still no.”

Duke sighed. “You can be really stubborn, Nate. I just want to help. Just walk. I will lead the way.” Duke searched for Nathan’s hand in the dark and found his face first. The boy only shrugged with his shoulders. Not mention it and Nathan will never know. Finally he found his hand and grabbed it tightly. He didn’t want to lose him in the dark. “Now walk. I have your hand and I will be right in front of you.” Walking next to him would be too dangerous. Duke maybe knew these tunnels but not so good that he could be sure that Nathan wouldn’t run into a wall or something. If he walked in front of him, he could be certain that there was nothing in the way.  
Duke waited until Nathan moved. He knew if he would drag him along that Nathan would probably hit the floor because he couldn’t feel the movement and wouldn’t know that he had to use his feet to keep himself upright. 

It was silent between them for a while. Nathan just trotted behind Duke and Duke just felt guilty for this and didn’t know what to say to apologize. He didn’t mean this to happen of course. He didn’t mean to put Nathan in such a horrible situation for him.   
“So there is no treasure here?” Nathan asked finally and broke the silence.  
“Maybe but I didn’t find him yet.”   
“And you dragged me along to a pointless treasure hunt? Why?” 

“I thought you could use some fun. You always look so serious. You could laugh sometimes. It certainly would suit you.” Duke knew how it was to feel serious, to have to worry about things but they were just kids. Duke found this cave and used it as a refuge, for himself, just to be there for himself and imagine to be a pirate who is searching for the biggest treasure. It was fun, every time, even on his own. But today he wanted some company and Nathan was the first who came into his mind because he looked so sad how Duke felt sometimes and he wanted to share this cave with him.   
“This isn’t fun.” Nathan’s voice was honest and open but there was no jugdement in it. “But thanks for trying.”

“How does it feel … not to feel?” Duke was curious. Maybe that was the reason why he teased Nathan so much. He just wanted to know how he reacted but he never did say anything.  
“Sometimes I think it’s great when I see another kid cry because he is injured and it hurts. I don’t feel it if I fall down or something. I could possibly win every fight because I don’t feel the pain.”   
“Yeah, but you don’t know when to stop.” Duke always knew when to stop a fight because his body told him. Nathan didn’t have this luxury. He could easily get injured very bad and wouldn’t notice. “And you can’t feel anything, it’s not just the pain. You can’t feel my hand right now, not the air, nothing. It must be horrible.”   
“Thanks.”   
“No, I didn’t mean it this way, I just-“ Duke stopped because he didn’t know what to say. Nathan Wuornos didn’t want sympathy he remembered himself.   
“It’s okay. It’s weird, you’re right.” 

“But not too weird to not like you. You’re okay, Nate.”   
Nathan snorted. “And maybe you’re not as bad as my dad told me.”   
“I’m worse, believe me.” 

It went silent again until they could see the light from the exit. With every step it got brighter and they could see more of their surroundings. Nathan stepped beside Duke and walked on his own now. “You can let go now. I can see enough.”   
“I brought you in this cave I will get you out.” He tightened his grip although Nathan couldn’t feel it but he raised their hands so he could see it. Duke knew now how important it was for Nathan to see what he couldn’t feel and Duke would make sure that he could see every touch he got from him because a friend made sure to acknowledge the troubles and help with them. 

And he wanted to be a friend for Nathan.   
He would watch after him and after the things Nathan couldn’t do on his own because of his Trouble. He would watch over him because friends did that.


End file.
